Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Nine Review

The unit that the media wasn’t talking about, the Oregon defense, was the star of the show in the Oregon/USC battle at Autzen Stadium. For those that watched the game you could tell that Oregon beating USC was not a fluke, for all of the future NFL talent on the Trojan side of the ball the Ducks were and are the better team. USC now finds itself at a crossroads that they haven’t seen since 2002. Pete Carroll chained the culture at USC but the question remains of whether he can get his team to rally or whether USC will split apart at the seams when the going has gotten tough which was the downfall of Paul Hackett. Realistically the Trojans, pending a complete collapse by Oregon are playing for a BCS at large bid at best at and with a very tough slate of upcoming games things won’t be easy. USC is now only 6-4 in its last 10 Pac 10 games and of those wins only two of those were against teams with winning records. Just like Miami, Nebraska and Florida State before them USC has seen their reign over a conference end. All four schools raised the bar in their conference won, national championships and completely dominated conference opponents over a multi-year stretch only to be undone by having to face everyone’s best shot every week and probably getting just a bit too comfortable in their environs to put in all the work that is needed to win championships. The schools I listed above all not returned to championship form the question begs if USC can reverse that and whether Pete Carroll sticks around to see it. Oregon it seems has now returned itself to the position they were in 2001, playing very meaningful games in November. In other news ASU drove a final steak in to the Cal Bears who have now experienced the first three game losing streak by a Jeff Tedford coached team since he was a coordinator at Fresno State. ASU now travels, along with College Gameday, to the third “game of the year” at Autzen Stadium this season. Kudos to the WSU Cougars who beat an undefeated in Pac 10 play UCLA squad in Pullman. UCLA was playing on borrowed time and the Cougs are a better team than their record shows. Will it save Bill Doba, not bloody likely but it was nice to see Doba and Brink get a quality home win in their final season. Oregon State put them-selves in to position to make a bowl game and someway, somehow Mike Stoops lives to see another day with an amazing comeback win in Seattle to send the Dawgs to their sixth straight loss.

1. UO (1) – I predicted that Oregon would win this game only if they scored 32 points or more, turned out I was wrong. The Ducks picked a great day to have their defense play an A++ game. Autzen has never been louder and the Ducks are the talk of the nation. With a much higher SOS than LSU you wonder how long the Ducks will be held behind the Bayou Bengals in the human portion of the BCS poll. LSU at best will face a 2 loss team in the SEC Championship game. Of course all of this is mute if Oregon and LSU can’t win out. Game of the Year Number 3 at Autzen comes next week and it is full of great story lines. I predict the Ducks win by 10 and Dennis Erickson goes to 0-5 in Autzen Stadium.
2. ASU (2) – ASU got down early but put on another spectacular second half performance in putting a final nail in Cal’s once storybook season. Cal was clearly jinxed by its fans chanting “Were #1” after seeing the LSU-Kentucky score. The Sun Devils face their first true road test of the year in the most hostile of environments now.
3. USC (3) – I can’t question Carroll’s decision to start Matt Sanchez, had John David Kosar started he would have been sacked 7 times by the speedy Oregon defense. Sanchez forced a few throws and it cost him. What I can question Carroll for is the slow hitting play call on the 4th and 1 on his first drive, not using enough of Joe McKnight in general and his calling a timeout with 8 seconds left in the game. For those with long memories Carroll in 2003 at Autzen Stadium called the Oregon staff classless for not pulling their starters when USC put in their backups and in turn Oregon pulled within 11 at the end of the game. Well considering the Ducks were still at the time in contention for a Pac 10 title and receiving votes in the Top 25 why would they not keep trying to win. Where does it say in the rule books that a team that is being beaten badly should stop trying to not show up the team that is beating them. Typical Trojan arrogance. Where that rant from Pete Carroll came from I have no idea but it proved all I need to know about Mr F You. He seems to think his team deserves special consideration and is just allowed to do things no one else can. Too bad your false reality is over jerk. Have fun in El Paso you classless piece of dung.
4. OSU (5) – The Beavs top notch front seven shut down another teams running game and in the process put themselves in great position to ensure a bowl game this year. Mike Riley is silently waiting in the wings for what could be the Civil War of all Civil Wars. Beating USC without Yvensen Bernard in the Coliseum seems all but impossible but I can’t discount the mental state of Trojans right now. A Beaver win is a possibility though highly unlikely. I bet that the Trojans have 30 no shows after all the jumping off the bandwagon occurs by USC “fans”.
5. UCLA (4) – Putrid performance on the Palouse which was aided by yet again more injuries to the UCLA offense. Had this team been healthy all year they might be undefeated right now. At 5-3 with a road game at Arizona, and match-ups versus ASU, Oregon and USC still on the horizon winning 7 games and ensuring a bowl game doesn’t look so hot in Westwood right now. Karl Dorrell needs 7 wins to stay as coach I think.
6. Cal (6) – Cal’s collapse is very reminiscent of the 2002 Oregon Ducks. Look out below but thankfully for them they play the Cougars at home and they should be able to win by 30 to at least for a week stop the bleeding.
7. UA (9) – How bad is Washington’s defense to allow Wily Tuitama to go for over 500 yards passing? Mike Stoops is like Michael Myers you think you have seen the end of him and he just keeps coming back. They now get a very winnable game versus UCLA at home. Arizona can’t win more than 6 games this year but they will have an effect on who wins the Pac 10 since they play the three remaining squads with one conference losses to end the season.
8. Stanford (7) – Did absolutely nothing in Corvallis last weekend but get good news in that they get to play the conference’s worst defense (Washington) in a game that should be a shootout.
9. WSU (10) – The Cougs got a Pac 10 win and ruined the prefect conference record of UCLA as was predicted in this column. The winning streak will end at 1 as they will be cannon fodder for a Cal team that needs to awake from their nightmarish October.
10. UW (8) – I like coach Willingham I want to see him stay at Washington to get a chance to see what Jake Locker can do for him over the next three years however I think that the guy will have major problems surviving this season. Could Jim Mora Jr be the Husky coach next season? This may be the worst defense ever seen in Washington football history.

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Eight Review

The week’s top story has to be the return of a viable quarterback to the UCLA Bruins and how this lead to Cal going from thinking they were the #1 team in the nation to being 3 games (considering that UCLA would own the tie-breaker due to their win over Cal) behind UCLA for the race for the Rose Bowl. Cal is all but dead in the water unless they can win out, get some luck and have UCLA only win 2 or less games this year. Cal could easily find themselves playing in the Fort Worth or Vegas Bowl which has to be one of the larger falls from grace we have seen nationally in the last few years. Amazingly, UCLA, who has suffered embarrassing losses to winless teams, is atop the Pac 10 with a 4-0 conference record. If Patrick Cowan can stay healthy they can beat anyone in the conference, with Bethel-Thompson at QB they can’t beat anyone. The Dawgs must be yearning for the days of Steve Emtman after surrendering over 450 yards rushing to Oregon. If you went back in time and told a Husky fan in 1991 that an Oregon Duck team lead by a running back from the State of Washington would lead an attack that set the Oregon school rushing record on Husky Stadium soil they would likely have you committed. Times do change, 1991 seems like ancient history, no internet, no cell phones or DVD or spread shotgun spread offenses for that matter . In other new Stanford won their second road game of the conference schedule but still hasn’t beaten anyone outside of San Jose State on their own field. Finally it appears that USC has gotten past their injury issues after wood-shedding Notre Dame in South Bend and now will face Oregon in the first match-up between two Top 10 (coaches poll not BCS) teams in the history of Autzen Stadium.

1. UO (1) – The bad news first, Oregon had some breakdowns in coverage that allowed Jake Locker to show he can throw the ball down the field and keep pace with the Ducks for 3 quarters. The good news is that Oregon ran for 456 yards, completely dominated the line of scrimmage offensively in a matter that has not been seen in Eugene in well forever. Had Oregon been able to play USC two weeks ago I think they would have beaten the Trojans by 14, but now that USC has had time to heal the game will be much closer and I would make the Trojans a small favorite. Oregon won’t be able to run laterally well against the speed that the Trojans posses so they will need to play smash-mouth football and win it between the tackles. Dennis Dixon obviously must avoid the picks and the Ducks can’t afford to let Stefon Johnson or Joe McKnight break long runs. Should be an epic, glad to have a seat for it!
2. ASU (2) – ASU was on bye week, which is a good thing because they will finally start to play some real teams. We well find out now if ASU is a true contender or whether they were beating up on creampuffs since they face Cal, Oregon, UCLA and USC in the next month. The Devils could go from being #4 in the BCS to out of the Top 25 in a short amount of time. Cal is sputtering but has never lost 3 games in a row under Jeff Tedford, this should be the second best game of the day but could get widely ignored with the national and conference attention on the game in Eugene.
3. USC (4) – Getting healthy at the right time. My opinion is that Matt Sanchez gives them a better chance at winning against Oregon than John David Booty. The o-line and defense are as healthy as they have been this year so Oregon could be in for a rude awakening.
4. UCLA (9) - I had UCLA 9th last week because the injury status of Patrick Cowan was up in the air, now that they have a functional quarterback again they are fully capable of being the Top 10 team that they have the personnel to be. They face a reeling WSU team but I would consider this one to be on major upset watch, especially with the Cougars having two weeks to prepare.
5. OSU (5) – On bye week last week after the big win in Berkeley. The Beavs got bad news with the loss of Tavika Thompson by decree from the NCAA. The reason for his eligibility being revoked is not yet known but we should stay on the lookout for further news. The Beavs should be able to end Stanford’s two game conference winning streak as the Cardinal shouldn’t be over looked anymore by anyone.
6. Cal (3) – This is where Cal shows whether they can rally and play themselves back in to the top of the Pac 10 and compete for a possible BCS at large bid or whether the wheels fall completely off. They no longer control their own destiny for the Rose Bowl but still will have a major effect on who ends up playing in it. They are more tested than ASU but need to do a better job running the ball to keep teams from teeing off on Nate Longshore (no speedster to begin with) who has the mobility of Bernie Kosar right now.
7. Stanford (7) – The Trees won another Pac 10 road game and certainly deserve much credit for that but unless they can stretch that streak to 3 games I don’t see them getting bowl eligible this season. Stanford under Jim Harbaugh is playing much smarter and once they increase their talent pool should be able to compete for a lower tier bowl every year as long as Harbaugh is in the fold. His enthusiasm is changing the culture in Palo Alto which will be a good thing with the gem of a stadium they have.
8. UW (8) – The Huskies played very hard for 3+ quarters but as has been typical in their now 5 game losing streak the Dawgs don’t have the conditioning or talent to stay with good teams for 60 minutes. Jake Locker broke out the long ball with some great success versus Oregon but the run defense is beyond atrocious. I couldn’t think of a better team for them to play right now than Arizona however and the Dawgs could further drive a steak in to the chances of Mike Stoops remaining at Arizona.
9. UA (6) – Losing to Stanford at home is always a huge letdown. Will they be the team that end Washington’s long losing streak? The decimated Husky front seven should be pretty vulnerable to a steady diet of runs.
10. WSU (10) - Just playing for pride now, but still have a very dangerous offense at home at least. They have a great shot at beating UCLA.

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Seven Review

Obviously the big story was Oregon State knocking off Cal, had the Bears won they would be the number one team in the country and likely #1 in the BCS as well. The Bears still control their own destiny to win the Pac 10 conference title which is something that only ASU and USC can also claim but clearly the loss will be one that will sting in Berkeley for years. Oregon State has to wonder what life would have been like this year had they had an experienced quarterback and a healthy Samie Straughter, the front seven for Oregon State has been stellar. Arizona State continued to win quietly but I still feel this team is untested. Oregon won big but their chances of going the rest of the year unscathed were dealt quite a blow by the losses of Jeremiah Johnson and Cameron Colvin. Wide receiver depth at the slot position is now very thin, Derrick Jones and freshman Aaron Pflugard need to step up big. Stanford’s win streak ended at one and Arizona put a scare in to USC before Joe McKnight (Reggie Bush Jr?) put the game away. USC should get McKnight more touches, after the bye week this week at Notre Dame they go to a hornets nest in Eugene to end out October.

1. UO (2) – The Ducks absolutely crushed Washington State but suffered two major injuries to key skill position players. They face what is most certainly a major trap game for them with the trip to Seattle. This is, amazingly, only the second time (1999 and 2003) in ten season that Oregon has played in Husky Stadium.
2. ASU (3) – Still untested and if there were a strange occurrence of events ASU could find itself the final BCS conference school undefeated after this week as they are on a bye week. ASU has very strong computer numbers but not much respect from voters.
3. Cal (1) – Will the OSU 2007 game be remembered like the 2001 Stanford game for Oregon? Cal should take care of UCLA pending that Patrick Cowan doesn’t play, if he does all of a sudden this one could be interesting particularly if Nate Longshore has to sit again and if Riley can’t shake the criticism from not throwing the ball away at the end of the Oregon State game.
4. USC (4) – USC’s defense was again stellar versus the run but there is major concern about the offense. This game was won on the special teams play of Joe McKnight, teams would be smart to not kick to him. USC gets Notre Dame at a good time, they shouldn’t be tested much and then they have to go up north for a revenge minded Duck team that wants to deliver a death blow to a USC squad that has owned them since 2002.
5. OSU (7) – The Beavs somehow just seem to pull out a win like this every year but rarely is it on the road. They were fortunate to avoid having to play against Longshore but they deserve much credit for beating a very talented team on the road. The Beavers now have the momentum to play themselves in to a bowl game, that looked like a distant memory after blowing early leads in previous games.
6. UA (8) – All in all the Cats defense dominated the Trojans, Mark Sanchez throwing the ball was not a factor. Had the Cats had better coverage on special teams and they could have easily knocked off USC. They have a very winnable game at home against Stanford, again the Cats are showing late season improvement like last year but a loss to the Trees would likely be too much for Stoops to survive.
7. Stanford (5) – They played tough against TCU but it was in the end a let down game after the huge win, Stanford had an outside shot at getting to 500 but the TCU loss cripples that I think.
8. UW (6) – UW’s murderers row schedule continued with a loss to the Devils. The Huskies would love to ruin the Ducks season but remember there is no rivalry!
9. UCLA (10) – If Patrick Cowan can play they have a shot against Cal, if Bethel-Thompson starts this one is over before it starts.
10. WSU (9) – Cougars fans are singing “Goodbye to You” in honor of Bill Doba’s farewell tour. They can’t get blown out by bye this week.

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Six Review

Many folks including myself argued that Michigan being defeated by Appalachian State was one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports but if you examine the disparity in Sagarin ratings Stanford beating USC was a much bigger upset. I believe in the history of this poll USC has spent only one week not ranked #1 but that will be changing now. USC needs to recover with three very challenging road games still on the slate. I’ve never thought Pete Carroll was the greatest game coach and in the games that USC has lost in the last 4 years they have been undone by some arrogant choices by the coaching staff and players. USC had no reason to be throwing late with the personnel they have on the defensive side of the ball on the drive that was ended by John David Booty throwing an interception that led to the final Stanford touchdown. Had they ran and punted Stanford would have only won the game with a hail-mary as the Trees would have lacked the time to get down the field to score the winning points. In other news Oregon State re-grouped nicely to defeat Arizona who played more like Arizona we have come to know than the one who grilled Washington State’s porous defense. Oregon State had a good enough defense to win 9 games this season and even compete for a Pac 10 title for horrific special teams play, quarterback play and injuries have crushed this squad. Washington State played the relatively untested ASU pretty tough but they lack a kicker with a strong enough leg to have much chance of hitting a field goal past 35 yards and this fact help undo them. Finally UCLA had the unfortunate problem of losing Ben Olson to a knee injury, UCLA’s walk-on QB had no chance and Notre Dame got some plays on defense to shock the Bruin faithful. Until UCLA gets Patrick Cowan or Ben Olson back at QB they will have problems beating any Pac 10 school.


1. Cal (2) – For Cal’s sake they have to hope that Nate Longshore can play. They should be able to beat Oregon State on special teams play alone but to beat ASU and USC they will need their QB back and healthy.
2. UO (3) – The question that faces is Oregon is whether they will recover from a hard loss like the 2001 and 2005 Ducks did or whether they will fade away like the 2002, 2003 and 2006 versions did. I think the Ducks should be able to score big points against Wazzu’s soft pass defense.
3. ASU (4) – Not that impressive against WSU but they did win and the previous week beat Stanford 41-3. The face a Washington team that is rested but whose stellar QB Jake Locker is getting schemed much better by opposing defenses. ASU will soon face a three game stretch of Cal, USC and Oregon and they will need to not make the mental mistakes that have plagued many Dennis Erickson teams in the past.
4. USC (1) – USC losing to Stanford was shocking, they went from controlling their own destiny in the BCS to facing the strong possibility of having to win out to even win the Pac 10 title. Pete Carroll will need to rally the troops and stop the bickering between John David Booty and the receivers.
5. Stanford (10) – Jim Harbaugh has instilled his players with confidence, that was something that was completely lacking under the regimes of Teevens and Harris. Stanford now hosts a highly disappointing TCU squad at home in front of what I have to assume may be more fans than Stanford usually has.
6. UW (6) – The Huskies hopefully used their bye week to heal up and figure out how to get their running backs more involved in their offense. They will face a tough task playing in Tempe where the Devils have been untouchable this year.
7. OSU (8) – The Beavs put together their best performance of the year in beating Ariozna. They face a huge task in Cal next week. I’d recommend Alex Serna punts every ball out of bounds to avoid Desean Jackson.
8. UA (7) – Well the offense returned back to what it had been most of this year and you really have to wonder how the Arizona defense could allow over 30 points to a Sean Canfield led squad. Playing an incredibly irate USC team will not add to the dismal chance of Mike Stoops retaining employment in Tucson.
9. WSU (9) – The Cougs played by far the best game they have played in the Pac 1o this year but came up short. The homecoming for Alex Brink could be pretty ugly in Eugene, sadly the Eugene kid will never get to experience playing in a bowl game.
10. UCLA (10) – As long as Bethel-Thomson is playing QB the Bruins cannot win a game in the Pac 10. Ben Olson appears to be out for 4 weeks and the status of Patrick is up in the air. They are quite lucky to have a bye week.

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Five Review

Oregon/Cal was a classic game, that, I unfortunately left with a heavy heart. Both teams played tough but in the end turnovers did in Oregon. I would have liked to have seen the Ducks stay with the run when they were up in the fourth quarter but they got greedy and forced some throws. Give Cal credit for win these teams are about even as the score proved but the Ducks have to be kicking themselves for losing in a game they were in control of. The Arizona schools routed at home and the LA schools picked won in the north as well in what was a 0-4 day for the schools of Oregon and Washington. The top of the Pac 10 has shown to the nation that they belong up there with anyone in the country. Some poll voters such as Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit actually moved Oregon up in the rankings after a loss. Next week is fairly blasé in the Pac 10, the best game will likely be what now may be a resurgent Wildcat squad playing a reeling Beaver team who gave up 40 unanswered points to UCLA which included a total breakdown in special teams play in the 4th quarter.

1. USC (1) – They played likely their worst game since early 2002 and still won. Maybe worries have out there due to health issues. The Trojans need to get healthy for the second half because they have some tough road match-ups with Oregon, Cal and USC looming. I just don’t see the Trojans winning out with this murderers row schedule. Luckily they face Stanford this week and should be able to rest a bunch of players.
2. Cal (3) – Tedford coached a smart game but his team will have some major problems if Longshore misses any games. I’d rank Cal, Oregon and USC as 1A, 1B and 1C but the Bears won on the scoreboard and that is all that matters.
3. Oregon (2) – A heartbreaking loss but to be minus 4 in turnovers and almost win shows you that if Oregon doesn’t turn the ball over they are pretty much unstoppable. A bye week might be a good thing here before they play the Cougars who should be all but filleted and gutted by the time they arrive in Eugene.
4. ASU (4) – It is kind of hard to judge this team as they haven’t played much competition this year (though that Colorado win now looks much better). As long as the weather doesn’t do something really weird in Pullman the Devils should take care of business and be approaching the Top 15 by the time they play UW in two weeks.
5. UCLA (5) – Well the Bruins didn’t start out well but they sure finished with a bang and rejoined the Top 25 in the media poll. They were really helped by the F minus special teams effort by the Oregon State Beavers. I expect them to run rough shot all over Notre Dame this weekend sending the Domers to 0-6.
6. UW (6) – A couple of breaks go the other way and the Huskies have their biggest win since beating Purdue in the anti-climatic 2001 Rose Bowl and biggest regular season win probably since the Wammy in Miami. A bye week will be well appreciated for the Dawgs who probably face too high of an uphill battle when they go to Tempe in two weeks.
7. UA (10) – As well as the top of the Pac 10 has played the bottom is playing awful. The Wildcats found an offense and crushed WSU. Are the Cougars that bad or has UA turned the corner? The Cats get to play Oregon State at the perfect time and can get to 500 on the season with a win next week.
8. OSU (8) – I’d put them lower but with the way that WSU and Stanford played last weekend not sure I can do that and the Beavers at least played pretty solid on defense. The Oregon State special teams played like they though that Jerry Pettibone was the Head Coach again.
9. WSU (7) – Letting Arizona score 40 on you is an awful sign. I think we can safely say that unless WSU pulls a miracle and wins at least one of their next two games versus ASU and UO there is hardly any chance that WSU can get to a bowl game this year which is needed for Doba to continue to coach.
10. Stanford (9) – Back in their usual spot and getting to play a likely very motivated USC team after their poor performance in Seattle will only add to the Cardinal woes.